Featuring: Graham Jarvis, Chris Birch, Jade Gutzeit, Marc Torlage, Darryl Curtis, Andreas Lettenbacher, Ben Hemingway and 237 Extreme Dirt Bikers.

The Roof of Africa inflicted pain and suffering for the 45th time when the event was held in the Kingdom of Mountains in November 2011. This race shares accolades with events like Erzberg, Romaniacs, Hell’s Gate and The Tough One, and only the fittest and strongest survive this epic three-day Hard Enduro.

The Kingdom of Lesotho is one of the toughest challenges anyone would expect to face, as the race organisers attempt to drain the energy out of every competitor. The route takes the riders up and down treacherous rocky climbs and rivers with names like Mankanuba, Bushmans, Free Fall, Spiderman, Mad Cow and Belekomo, to name just a few.

Starting with a manic race through the streets of Maseru gets the thousands of cheering fans race ready, and the next two days, covering 300km-plus and 20 hours in the saddle, see very few make it to the finish line at the summit of Bushmans.

The race has been dominated by New Zealander Chris Birch for the last three years, but Britain’s Graham Jarvis, a magician on a motorcycle, South Africa’s home-grown hero Jade Gutzeit and the likes of young Marc Torlage, experience Darryl Curtis and German legend Andreas ‘Letti’ Lettenbacher will all be fighting to dethrone the Kiwi.

The Roof of Africa is a brutal challenge of man and machine against terrain – to compete in this race is an adventure, but to win is a conquest.